DEAP VALLY Gig Review // Night & Day Café Manchester
DEAP VALLY play a sold out show at Night and Day Café in Manchester.
California’s finest duo Deap Vally have taken a fleeting visit to the UK with only three shows in their diary. Following Sheffield’s Tramlines Festival, they arrived in style at Manchester’s much loved venue Night and Day Café.
I was greeted by 400 odd foreheads packed next to each other. A 400 capacity venue with sweat dripping all over its walls. A sold out show indeed. This also intensified as the they went on, just as you would’ve expected a rock & roll gig to be.
The first two songs definitely got the audience dancing and singing their hearts out as the frontwoman and guitarist Lindsey Troy welcomed and thanked everybody. The extravagant image and thick accent made her seem like an old friend you were catching up with after moving away. She spoke about the drummer Julie Edwards‘ baby being asleep backstage downstairs, the upcoming gigs, the sweat, the glory, and just how spectacular the night was turning out to be.
Before the band even reached the mid verse of their recent single Smile More, 400 voices sang all the lyrics right back at them. This was a thrilling thing to see, and hear, especially as Deap Vally have been quite under the radar and quite unknown for the majority of the people here.
Troy‘s stage presence is extremely powerful as it is, but when she sings about such relatable and important matters, you can’t help but feel enticed and slightly empowered by the bands’ skill in connecting with anyone and everyone through their dirty riffs, beats and lyrics.
Deap Vally‘s sophomore album Femejism is due for release later this year (September 16th) and we were blessed to hear a couple of songs off of it. The crowd took an instant liking to the new material what clearly flattered the band.
Despite the sound staying the same it was evident how they have grown as musicians and as a band. There is a lot more dynamism and freshness hailing from the slower as well as the faster songs. Edwards‘ drumming skills gel the sound together into what it is, whilst Troy‘s simple but eclectic riffs give the band a timeless factor. However, the rest of the set consisted mostly of well known and well loved older songs of theirs.
The tracks such as Gonna Make My Own Money and Walk of Shame resulted in Troy bouncing off the drum kit, the crowd bouncing off the walls, and eventually her again bouncing off the stage into a 5-minute-long crowd surf. The mutual energy was tenacious and strong what gave us probably the best night Manchester had seen in a long time.
After a highly demanded encore the set came to an end on the track Royal Jelly. People were dancing on benches and tables as there was no room left for them anywhere else. All ages sang and raved the night out. Without a break, the band got straight to the front of the venue where they did a meet and greet with their fans.
Deap Vally are two of the coolest and down to earth people I’ve ever met. Having asked the crowd for the feedback it appeared that everybody was just as blown away as I was. Particularly, when you think about how full they performed, considering the fact that it can sometimes be difficult for a duo to translate the sound they’ve recorded into a live format. But this show only proved that if anything, they sound even better live.
Deap Vally will embark on a UK tour this September in support of their second album Femejism. I don’t want to offend anyone but you’d be stupid not to go to at least one of their shows. Grrl Power!
Words and photo: Emilia Castle
